Transitional Housing

Based in La Crosse, Wisconsin, YWCA La Crosse's Transitional Housing Program provides financial assistance for housing and comprehensive housing case management services to single parent women and their children who are experiencing homelessness. The Transitional Housing Program provides six women and their children with the opportunity to live in their own apartment for up to two years while actively pursuing self-identified and mutually agreed upon goals. The women work closely with a case manager on a weekly basis and attend bi-weekly support groups with other women and children in the program. Transitional Housing Support Groups offer participants opportunities for educational and enriching experiences while promoting positive peer support, collective sharing, and an increased sense of community.

YWCA La Crosse's Transitional Housing Program Empowers Women to:

Obtain and remain in permanent housing

Increase their job training skills and/or income

Achieve greater self-determination and self-sufficiency

Who is Eligible? (must meet all of the below requirements)

Women who are 18 years of age

Must have children under the age of 18

Must be homeless as defined by HUD

Women who are committed to improving their living situation, income and/or skills, and achieving greater self-determination.

Who is considered homeless? (As defined by the United States Code (Title 42, Chapter 119, 1)) For purposes of this chapter, the term "homeless" or "homeless individual or homeless person" includes:

An individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and

An individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is:

a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill);

an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or

a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

The HEARTH Act expands the definition of "homeless", "homeless individual", and "homeless person." The definition of "homeless" now includes:

(1) people who resided in a shelter or place not meant for human habitation and who are exiting an institution where he or she temporarily resided;

(2) people who are losing their housing in 14 days and lack support networks or resources to obtain housing,

(3) people who have moved from place to place and are likely to continue to do so because of disability or other barriers, and